Announcing the First Class of Barclays Cape Town, Powered by Techstars

Today we are excited to announce thefirst ever class of the Barclays Accelerator, Powered by Techstars on the African continent. It may be the most geographically diverse accelerator program ever for Techstars! Applicants from over 45 countries applied for the spots in the 3-month intensive program. The 10 companies who were selected join us from nine different countries (South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, United States, Lebanon and the United Kingdom). The companies encompass a wide array of verticals within FinTech – including international payments, mobile medical insurance, land title registration via blockchain and financial inclusion. This diversity signifies the breadth and depth of the entrepreneurial talent that exists in this class.

By combining Barclays’ 300+ years of financial services experience with the mentorship-driven model and entrepreneurial network of Techstars, we offer a game-changing advantage to our startups.

We’re incredibly excited to announce and welcome the ten companies that will be joining and also want to take this opportunity to thank our mentors. Their time and support is essential for this accelerator. We couldn’t do it without you! 2016 is going to be an amazing year for both Techstars and Africa! Here are the companies for the 2016 Barclays Accelerator, powered by Techstars in Cape Town:

iNuka Pap (Kenya) – A mobile platform that partners with credit co-operatives to allow their members to conveniently deposit, withdraw and access instant micro-loans as well as access other credit services.

BenBen (United States) – A solution for governments to convert physical land titles to digital copies on an irrefutable platform secured on the Blockchain. Additionally, they provide citizens with a mobile application, website, USSD platform for them to manage their properties.

Beyonic(United States) – Enable businesses to quickly deploy and manage two-way mobile money payments to eliminate the need to make payments using cash. Through the use of web services and APIs, businesses can access payee and workflow management systems that greatly reduce fraud.

SimbaPay (UK) – Send money to family and friends bank accounts or mobile wallets in Africa (from abroad) in a convenient and cheap way. Customers can also use their bill settlement technology to pay merchants in Africa (such as universities, utilities). You can also open a bank account back home using the app.

Asoriba (Ghana) – Simplifies church administration for leaders and improves engagement with members via mobile apps.

Social Lender (Nigeria) – A lending platform, licensed to financial institutions, that determines credit worthiness based on social reputation on social media platforms.

Yossi HassonYossi is the Managing Director of the Techstars Blockchain Accelerator in NYC. Previously, he ran the Barclays Accelerator, Powered by Techstars in Cape Town. He is a passionate entrepreneur and angel investor. Prior to Techstars, Yossi co-founded SYNAQ, an open source cloud email security company. After scaling to 1 million users, SYNAQ was acquired by Dimension Data and awarded Top 20 Tech Startup in Africa by Forbes Magazine. Yossi has an MBA from the Gordon Institute of Business Science. He also lectures on Entrepreneurship and is a member of Endeavor and Entrepreneurs Organization.